


He's Our Demi-God

by MusicalLuna



Series: He Ain't Heavy [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Explict Language, Gen, Hurt Thor, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Near Drowning, No Sex, POV Steve Rogers, Series, Steve Feels, Team Dynamics, Tentacles, Violence, but not that kind of tentacles, near-drowning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2014-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-15 01:42:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1286506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalLuna/pseuds/MusicalLuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>None of them is invulnerable.</p><p>The third in a series of hurt/comfort fics featuring the Avengers team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's Our Demi-God

**Author's Note:**

> Finally another one! :D
> 
> Betaed by my first netbook's godmom and dragonnan.

Steve, like everyone in the Tower—everyone in the _city—_ knows Thor's been sick for a week. The cloud cover that had rolled in when he'd gotten the first tickle in his throat developed into a steady drizzle, then a pounding, constant rain, and has become this incredible cell of thunderstorms over the last twenty-four hours, complete with oppressive, roiling, pitch-black clouds, lashing rain, and thunder that shakes the street under the soles of Steve's boots. The sicker Thor gets, the uglier the storm becomes.

Steve's soaked through and through, the Cap suit chafing like a sonuvabitch and icy against his skin. Even with the cowl keeping his hair out of the way, he can still barely see. Hell, he can barely breathe.

“Iron Man!” he shouts, lifting his arm to use the shield as an umbrella so that he can speak without taking in a lungful of water. “Is it still inside the perimeter?”

"That would be an affirmative!" Tony calls back and Steve feels a pang of irritated jealousy. Tony sounds downright _chipper,_ meanwhile the rest of them are down here freezing their asses off in the rain. "Do we have a plan, other than 'corner it'?"

Steve scowls.

"Just keep an eye on it until we can close in, Iron Man," he says, a little more heatedly than is really warranted.

"Oookay," Tony says. "Will do."

Steve curses himself for letting his discomfort get the best of him and tries to remember that it's not Tony's fault he's better equipped for this kind of thing. It doesn't help. If he's this miserable, Thor must be going through hell. Then again, it's his own fault he's out here. Steve had tried, unsuccessfully, to bench him.

"Thor," he calls, because he has to keep tabs on the team, not because he's worried, "you hanging in there?"

He gets what is, frankly, a disgusting noise in response and then, horribly congested, "I am still hanging, I believe, though I will be immeasurably grateful when we have dispatched of this foe and I am able to go back to Jane and my warm bed."

"Amen, brother," Clint chimes. Steve's pretty sure he hears his teeth chattering. They need to get this over with _._

"I've got eyes!" Natasha cuts in and Steve jerks to attention.

"What do you see?" he demands.

"It's hard to make out!" Natasha replies. Steve stares hard into the pouring rain, waiting. "It's big!" she says at last. "Maybe three stories? I think I can see multiple appendages."

That's surprisingly little to go on, but Steve guesses if he can't see all that well, Natasha's even worse off.

"Okay," he yells. "What's the location?"

"Four o'clock, three hundred yards, give or take, from the drop off point!"

"Iron Man?" Steve says.

"Got it. Okay, kids, the lovely Widow is correct, this thing is built like a warehouse. It's big, it's round, it's ugly, and—oh, _shit_! Tentacles, people! We've got tentacles!"

"Watch your ass, Stark," Clint drawls.

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you've tried it," Tony snarks back and Steve grits his teeth.

"Can we please focus?"

"Chafing's making you a little cranky, Capsicle," Tony says and Steve has to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at him.

"Thor, Iron Man, I want you two to run interference—keep it distracted. Bruce, get angry and get Hawkeye; I want both of you in position. Hawkeye, take this thing down as soon as we're all in range."

“Aye, Captain,” Thor replies and then sneezes. Steve winces as a bolt of lightning momentarily blinds him, followed by a crash of thunder. The sooner they're done here, the better it will be for all of them.

“It'll be my pleasure,” Clint mutters and Natasha reports, “Banner's left the van.”

"Copy that," Steve says and lowers his shield, wincing as the pounding rain drenches him again. From his twelve o'clock, Steve hears a familiar bellow, muffled by the gushing of water hitting pavement. "See if you can get him to keep quiet," he says, over the noise of it. "I know it's probably a bit much trying for the element of surprise, but, well—"

"Hulk's best sneak attack, will do," Clint replies.

Based on Natasha's report, he's got the longest way to go, so Steve grits his teeth and slings the shield onto his back. The most direct route is probably via rooftop. He finds a drainpipe on the closest building and scales it. From up here, he can see the Manhattan skyline, or the faint glowing smudges off in the distance where they've still got power, anyway. The vast field of blackness between here and there makes Steve feel adrift.

Lightning forks across the sky and he takes advantage of the brief view it gives him to map out a route in his head. It's dangerous, going off of such a brief bank of information, but it's not like he's got much choice.

He's doing well, considering, until he puts a foot down in the wrong place and it skids out from under him. He hisses as his shin connects hard with a sharp edge and forces himself to his feet again. He hasn't got time to lose.

“We're in place,” Clint reports when Steve thinks he's just a few blocks away.

“This thing is _really_ ugly,” Tony comments and Steve scowls up at the rain-obscured light he can see drifting in a lazy circle overhead. “It's also being suspiciously chill, which is not making me feel simpatico with the situation.”

“So rile it up,” Steve says and leaps to the adjacent roof.

“Is that an order?”

With a huff and an eye-roll of exasperation, Steve says, “Sure, it's an order, Tony.”

“Your wish is my command.” Tony's crazed grin is loud and clear in his voice.

The first repulsor blast is like a miniature flash of lightning. And the response is immediate, and deafening. Steve's just a few blocks away now and he can feel the structure beneath his feet rattle with the sound of the creature's roar.

In the next flash of lightning he sees the massive, writhing shape of it reared back, tentacles whipping in the air, trying to snatch Tony out of it.

“Thing's actually pretty fast,” Tony says and Steve knows from the unwavering, casual modulation of his voice that he's somewhat worried by this discovery.

“I'm almost there,” Steve reports. “Thor, can you get in there and maybe give it a good whack with the hammer?”

“Aye,” Thor replies. He sounds worn out and Steve pushes himself a little harder to get there faster. Maybe it's foolish to be worried about a demigod, but he _can_ die and anyway, it's no good running him ragged. It's been awhile since Steve was sick, but he still remembers how quick a cold could turn. Sure, this is some sort of Asgardian malady, and Thor insists he's endured it at least half a dozen times, but...Steve curses himself. They've all sat out a fight at one point or another, except Thor. He should have insisted.

Steve comes up on the rooftop closest to the creature's position and he taps his earpiece. “I'm here. Do it!” he orders.

Clint doesn't reply, but Steve knows he's taken the shot because suddenly all hell breaks loose.

The creature howls, so loud it makes Steve's ears ache, and thrashes, slamming into the building. “Shit!” The roof starts crumbling beneath his feet, and Steve takes a flying leap out into space, right toward the lashing tentacles.

“ _Cap!_ ” he hears over the garbled sounds of Clint and Natasha's voices, and then he's hitting the pliant body of the creature, gloves scrabbling for purchase. He's falling fast—too fast—toward the ground a hundred and fifty feet below when he feels a sharp jerk around his middle.

He grabs hold of Iron Man's arm, shouting in relief, “Tony!”

“Jesus, Cap, next time a building collapses underneath you, maybe don't fling yourself _at the thing collapsing it,_ hey?”

“Hawkeye, hit it again!” Steve barks as they fly higher, out of the reach of the monster's still flailing limbs. The thing is enraged, all four of the surrounding buildings bearing gaping holes.

“I sure hope those things work on it,” Tony says, “otherwise we're just pissing it off. Now where the hell did Thor go?”

“Get Hulk in there to try and contain it!” Steve adds.

“He's in the water!” Natasha shouts.

“In the—”

“Who is?” Steve demands.

“ _Thor!”_

“Goddammit! Stark, get your ass back here, this thing is slowing down, but it's not _going_ down yet and it's trying to strangle Hulk!”

Tony whips them both around, and sure enough, the creature has it's myriad tentacles wrapped around the Hulk, three of them gripped tight around his throat. He can't quite seem to get his mouth open wide enough to roar his outrage. “Go!” Steve yells and Tony swoops a little lower, dropping him as he shoots back toward the fight.

Steve hits the ground hard, pain spiking up his heels even as he pitches himself forward into a roll to cut the force of the impact. When he's on his feet and able to get his breath back, he calls, “Widow?”

“Yeah, Cap,” she replies.

Overhead the clouds are roiling, lightning crackling across them in a way he's never seen before. The smell of ozone is sharp in his nose.

“Did you see which way he went?”

Tony's firing repulsor blast after repulsor blast at the thing's tentacles while the Hulk bucks in it's grip. Natasha swears and then, breathlessly, says,”He got knocked aside. I don't know— It's hard to see. I think he might have gone into the water.”

Steve curses. Before he can do anything with that information, Tony blasts through two of the tentacles holding the Hulk and the big guy bellows. The creature—moving much faster than Steve would have given it credit for—dodges to the side as the Hulk squirms free, coming straight at Steve.

“ _Shit!_ ”

“Get out of there!” Tony yells. Steve can't spare the breath to snarl _what does it look like I'm doing?_ at him as he sprints out of the way.

He feels the rush of air as one massive tentacle slams down behind him, jolting him up into the air with the impact. His injured leg crumples as he comes back down on it and he staggers, barely catching himself.

“Hawkeye, hit it, hit it!” he hears Tony barking.

Lightning flashes and he catches sight of a tentacle wide as a car overhead, coming down at speed.

Steve's heart jumps into his throat. He's never going to move fast enough to get out from under it.

Throwing his shield up to cover his head, he drops, curling into a ball he hopes will minimize the damage.

A split-second later he hears a dull thud of an impact, but feels nothing. He peeks out around the shield to find Hulk hunched over him, one arm raised to block the tentacle.

“Thanks, Hulk,” he breathes and Hulk huffs, snarling and shoving back at the tentacle.

“One shot a hit!” Clint calls.

“Hit it again!” Tony orders.

Steve climbs to his feet, wincing at the pain in his leg.

“Sure could use some help from Thor right about now,” Clint mutters and adds, “Shot two a hit. I hope it's just taking some time to travel through this thing's system.”

“I'm not getting a response,” Natasha says tersely.

Steve flinches as the Hulk is pushed back, nearly staggering back onto him. “Keep trying!” he orders.

“I think it's going down!” Tony says.

“Use the unibeam and finish it then!” Steve orders. He doesn't care anymore where or how they do it, as long as it gets done.

“Aye, aye,” Tony growls and the unibeam bursts from the center of the chestpiece, blinding Steve with the sudden and intense light.

The creature howls, trailing off, and begins to fall.

Hulk grunts and snarls at him, “ _Go!”_

Steve goes.

Ten seconds later, Hulk is dropping the still form of the creature onto the street, kicking at it spitefully. “Stay and keep an eye on it, Hulk!” he calls. “Put it down if it tries to get back up again!”

He gets a sharp nod in reply.

That taken care of, Steve turns to face the black water of the harbor. There's no sign whatsoever of Thor. He must have gone into the river. “Iron Man, can you scan for Thor?”

“Already on it,” Tony replies. “I'm getting a heat signature from beyond the end of the dock. His comm is out.”

“How long do we guess he's been in the water?” Steve demands, jogging out onto the dock, footfalls hollow on the wood.

“Five minutes, twelve seconds, give or take,” he replies grimly. “I'm going under.”

The boots flare and then the Iron Man suit is plunging into the water. Steve wants to go in after him, but he resists the urge, knowing it will do more harm than good.

“Hey,” Clint says, “the storm's stopped.”

“That can't be good,” Natasha murmurs. It's a flippant line, but the delivery's flat. She's tense and on point, intently focused on the water.

“But he can't die, right?” Clint says, not exactly anxious. “Even fighting Lo— He got stabbed and was fine.”

“He's still mortal,” Steve says, scanning the dark waves below. “Injuries are different. No oxygen, no life.” He's starting to get that strange, slippery feeling in his stomach. Not another friend.

“Fuck!” Tony snarls in his ear. “He's caught up in some shipping chains. Links are as big as my goddamn body!”

Steve paces at the end of the pier. He needs to be the Avengers' leader right now, to compartmentalize and do what has to be done, but it's Thor down there. His teammate. His _friend._ “I can—”

“No, stay put! I had JARVIS call for a medevac, they're on their way,” Tony snaps. “I just have to— _JARVIS!_ ”

Steve's skin is fizzing with adrenaline and it's torture standing there, doing nothing.

The wait drags on, black waves lapping softly at the struts of the dock, rain calmed to faint, drizzly mist. Every so often a thin web of lightning will crackle across the surface of the clouds.

It's silent except of the soft _thock thock_ of the water below.

“Tony!” Steve bursts after nearly five minutes. “I'm coming in!”

“I've got him!” Tony says, just before he leaps. “Shit, he's heavy.” There's another painfully long moment and then Steve sees lights in the water, murky and green.

Iron Man slides out of the water, gripping an unconscious Thor beneath his arms, his blond head lolled forward, water streaming off of him in rivulets. “Out of the way!” he barks.

The three of them scramble back, making room for Tony to deposit him on the dock. As soon as he's down, Steve darts forward to lean over him and assess his status. His skin is so pale it almost seems to glow, reflecting back the light of the arc reactor. “He's not breathing,” Steve quickly realizes and something in his chest seizes up. God, no, please. Not again.

“Move,” Natasha orders and slips between them, leaning over to check herself before pumping his chest twice and bending to pinch his nose and breathe into his mouth.

“Shit,” Clint says, dismayed.

Tony shuffles around, hands twitching at his sides. “This is—this is gonna work, right? He's—he's gonna be fine. He's a demi-god. He can't just kick it like that. Not from something so stupid as—goddammit, _why isn't it working?_ ”

Natasha breathes again and Steve drags a hand over his mouth. Of all of them, he never expected Thor to—

Natasha jerks back suddenly and Thor bucks beneath her, harsh, tearing coughs spewing water across his chest and over Natasha's knees. She darts back from Thor's groping hands and Steve quickly inserts himself, catching Thor by the wrist. The relief is like a physical blow, leeching all the strength out of his muscles.

“Hey! Thor!” he says, raising his voice, “You're okay, it's us!”

Natasha wipes her arm across her face and sits back on her calves, breathing hard with exertion. Clint touches her shoulder and crouches down with them.

Thor's grip on Steve's arm is just this side of painful, and he hunches forward, ropes of sodden blond hair clinging to his cheeks and forehead, breathing ragged. “Captain?” he rasps.

“Yeah, it's me, I'm here,” Steve says, cupping the back of his neck. “You gave us quite the scare, big guy.” His voice is trembling and Steve doesn't care; Thor is alive, thank God, thank God. He drags him closer. “Next time when I bench you, you're staying home, you hear me?”

Thor huffs and leans into Steve's shoulder, dripping seawater. “Our foe is vanquished?”

“Oh, he's vanquished all right,” Tony says, the face plate of the suit flipped back to reveal his shit-eating grin. “Don't you ever do that again, you monumental asshole.”

“Aye,” Thor breathes and Steve finally breathes himself.


End file.
